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Air Algeria plane wreckage found in Mali

Spain Algeria Plane

A plane taking off is reflected in a building that houses the Spanish Swiftair airline in Madrid, Spain,Thursday, July 24, 2014. An Air Algerie flight carrying 116 people from Burkina Faso to Algeria's capital disappeared from radar early Thursday over northern Mali, officials said. (AP Photo/Paul White, file)
(Paul White)

PARIS — French officials say that the wreckage of an Air Algeria plane which crashed with 116 people aboard has been found in Mali.

A message posted Friday on the website of President Francois Hollande said the wreckage had been clearly identified despite the disintegration of the aircraft, and that a French military unit was being sent to secure the site.

The MD-83 aircraft, owned by Spanish company Swiftair and leased by Algeria's flagship carrier, disappeared from radar less than an hour after it took off early Thursday from Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou for Algiers.